


Port and Star

by kirigaku



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: I do not recognize the term "Larboard", Limsan Sailor Cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26264803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirigaku/pseuds/kirigaku
Summary: R'intana Rhiki, a Seeker of Limsa Lominsa, makes her way home after a long voyage. Plenty of trouble awaits her, and there's always work for a solo sailor to do... but even sailors must sleep.Entry #2 for the #FFXIVWrite2020 / #FFXIVWrite challenge. The prompt this time was "Sway."
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2
Collections: #FFxivWrite2020 Final Fantasy 30 Day Writing Challenge





	Port and Star

A calm, breezy tailwind swept across the Rhotano Sea, filling the sails of the _New Horizon._ The sturdy sailboat quietly proceeded on its path over the blue-green seas, bound straight for the shores of La Noscea.

Or as R’intana Rhiki, captain and sole sailor of the _New Horizon_ , called the island: home.

The Seeker lost track of how many moons had passed since her golden eyes had gazed upon the white cliffs and lush green grasslands of La Noscea. Now, she finally had reason to return after spending the warmer third of the year hopping between the port towns of the Sea of Jade. Safe in the hold were several crates of rare and valuable trade goods - Bozjan spices purchased from Imperial merchants, alchemical reagents from Thavnair, and the crown jewel: a generous cask of fine Dalmascan wine.

All of these would fetch plenty of gil in Limsa or Ul’dah. Some of her cargo, being Imperial in origin, could cause trouble at customs back home. However, R’intana was convinced she could convince her younger sister, an assessor at Maelvaan’s Gate, to pull some strings. It would certainly be easier than last time, when she brought over a few tanks of ceruleum fuel.

R’intana, after rigging the sails and manipulating the rudder for a straight and proper westerly course, let out a long and dramatic yawn as she watched the shores of Thanalan fade into the horizon. She was able to get a solid night’s rest back in Vesper Bay while getting some repairs done, but the exhausting days of hard labor and constant vigilance on her return journey from the southern shores of Ilsabard had taken her toll. It would take far more than one night at a cushy inn to make up for that.

Confident after checking twice-over that her course was fair, the Miqo’te stretched her arms skywards, and let her body do what it needed. She sat down, then finally lay down flat on her back upon the wooden deck. It was about time for one of her ten-minute catnaps anyway. A rest long enough to feel just a smidge more rested, but short enough that she would wake easily before any unexpected trouble could appear.

It would make her look absolutely ridiculous if somehow, others saw her flat on her back sleeping on the deck, R’intana pondered to herself. But that didn’t mean shite to her. This was _her_ boat, and she was her own captain. Being a solo sailor was exhausting. It could be stressful, and she didn’t make things easier for herself by choosing more politically inconvenient ports of call to sneak into. But on this vessel, on these seas, she did whatever she wanted, whenever and wherever she wanted to. 

R’intana found some rope to rest her head against and adjusted her position, and let her eyes shut.

She was alone, unbothered without any other soul around for several nautical malms. Only the sounds of the waves gently lapping against the hull of her vessel, and the cawing of seabirds high above distracted her from her thoughts.

Before reaching port, she would have to practice a verbal cargo declaration for her suspicious cargo - she couldn’t write in letters, so she couldn’t just prepare a paper in advance. She absolutely had to ensure she would not forget to swap the Thavnairian standard flying on her mast for her legal Limsan colors - the blokes at Vesper Bay wouldn’t care, but the Admiralty’s assessors would definitely ask questions since she wasn’t a registered privateer. And then there was the matter of the quality of the repairs…

“Ah, screw it,” R’intana thought to herself quietly. Rest would elude her if she insisted on worrying about all that now. After years of sailing by herself, the Seeker had developed a surefire method to let her mind drift off to sleep.

She shut everything out, and let herself feel the rolling of the waves beneath her vessel. Today, the waves first touched the hull of the _New Horizon_ on her port side, before rolling off to the starboard side. The open deck wasn’t the most comfortable place, but it did let her take in every single push of a wave. She focused her attention on the waves passing beneath and shifting under the boat, counting the moments the wave would visit briefly, then carry on their journey to a distant shore.

“Port. Star. Port. Star.”

R’intana banished every errant thought from her mind, save for counting each rolling sway of the boat upon the waves.

“Port. Star. Port… and star…”

She cast off her worries, and felt consciousness slip away slowly as the rhythm of the vast sea rocked her to sleep. Like a mother and her child, perhaps. Fitting, one last errant thought intruded. She always knew she was a child of the sea.

“Port. Star. Port…”

Finally, R’intana's favored sleeping exercise worked its magic. Her body relaxed, and she fell into her nap. For a lone sailor, rest was precious and fleeting. But for just a few moments the deck of the _New Horizon_ was silent, save for the captain’s light snoring and the soft touch of the waves gently beating against the hull.


End file.
